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Alfa awus036nh weak tx power. Is their a way to adjust?

I am running the rt2800 driver with the Alfa awus036nh wifi adapter. Injection and monitoring work great.However, my range is limited to less than that of my stock internal wireless card and iwconfig shows that it's txpower = 6dBm which seems very low.

I have tried several methods to adjust, but most have been for other drivers...
Is adjustment of txpower supported in rt2800?

Re: Alfa awus036nh weak tx power. Is their a way to adjust?

I have tried iwpriv and the iwconfig methods of setting txpower.It seem that they are not supported with the rt2800usb driver. However, I performed a few informal tests against the built-in wireless adapter and it appears that the Alfa is stronger in Tx and Rx. This is in spite of the fact that iwconfig returns a value of 6dBm for the Alfa and 20dBm for the built-in atheros based adapter.

I is a precompiled kernel image and header by Jusic at the german wardriving forums. Injection and Monitoring work great and the added bonus is that you can also surf the net with the rt2800usb driver. It updates the kernel to 2.6.33

Re: Alfa awus036nh weak tx power. Is their a way to adjust?

Originally Posted by D.B. Cooper

I have tried iwpriv and the iwconfig methods of setting txpower.It seem that they are not supported with the rt2800usb driver. However, I performed a few informal tests against the built-in wireless adapter and it appears that the Alfa is stronger in Tx and Rx. This is in spite of the fact that iwconfig returns a value of 6dBm for the Alfa and 20dBm for the built-in atheros based adapter.

I is a precompiled kernel image and header by Jusic at the german wardriving forums. Injection and Monitoring work great and the added bonus is that you can also surf the net with the rt2800usb driver. It updates the kernel to 2.6.33

Did you manage to increase the TX value?

Im using the 2800usb drivers and trying to set highpower using iwpriv and tried changing the txvalue using iwconfig and both failed. The first with no private ioctls error and the second invalid argument error.

Re: Alfa awus036nh weak tx power. Is their a way to adjust?

Originally Posted by spiers

How much 'range' is lost by having tx value 4-8 rather than 30?

?

Now we are getting into RADIO theory realm.

In my research (years) I have found a simple rule of thumb for the 2.4 to 2.5 gHz (microwave) bandwidth. As a starting point, 27 dBi (at the antenna) will get you out to 450 meters at 11Mb/s guaranteed (clear air no obstructions.) For every 3dBi added to that you get an effective doubling of the range. For every 3 dBi subtracted you get 1/2 the range. It is exponential, getting extra power is also exponential in the $ compartment. Being that this is the microwave band width the radiation danger with power boosting is also exponential.

Now remember your antenna is 5 dBi or better added to 6 from the adapter you are now up to 11dBi. 27 - 11 = 16. 16 / 3 = 5.33 halvings or in 'range terms' something around 14 to 20 meters (clear air no obstructions.) Actual range varies due to atmospheric pressure and humidity but you get the picture (you are really limited.) Depending on the receiving sensitivity of the hot spot or hub, you can be further away.

Note: The advertised ratings or watts from the ALFA's is not what you get. Search for the FCC reviews of all the ALFA's real power output without the antenna.